Thursday, October 24, 2013

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes dispelled the ‘Obamacare Kills Jobs’ lies on his All In show. See how he used the employment data to prove Republicans are lying. Image: EW Addicting Info

We are all well aware of the Obamacare lies and misinformation. The big one; Obamacare kills jobs.

Everyone remember Hannity’s big fail? He featured three families claiming to be hurt by Obamacare. It turns out all three would be helped by Obamacare.

Of course there are many other lies that are easy to dispel. Obamacare is a government takeover of healthcare? That lie is easily dispelled since insurance is provided by the private sector. Medical services are provided by private hospitals and doctors. That is in no way a government takeover.

Obamacare gets between you and your doctor? Really? The reality is that your private insurance is the one that does that. They tell you what drug you can use. They tell you which doctor you can see. They tell you which hospital you can go to.

The other big lie is that Obamacare kills jobs.

The narrative from the Republicans is that Obamacare kills jobs by creating a job market of part time work. Obamacare requires that companies with over 50 employees provide insurance to employees working over 30 hours per week. Their theory is that that would cause employers near 50 to stay below 50 workers. They also assume employees would be kept below 30 hours per week.

For a party that claims to be business savvy they miss an important point. Companies hire to maximize profits. Taxes and health insurance are costs of doing business just like any other cost. If it is not burdensome enough to stunt a marginal profit increase, hiring will occur.

In the aggregate, everyone pays for the uninsured. As such, total employment is affected whether it is paid for by the employer or through the economy by the taxpayer. Those dollars are redirected to healthcare and away from other goods and services.

The jobs report came out today and the ‘Obamacare Kills Jobs’ lie was completely dispelled. Involuntary part time jobs declined (also see WSJ & Politifact). This has been occurring for over a year even as Obamacare is being rolled out.